Rural Innovation

Program overview

The Rural Business Innovation Lab (RBIL) is a cohort-based, entrepreneurial development program aiming to redefine the false narrative of rural decline. RBIL will build a peer network dense with innovative ideas, professional expertise, and resources needed for underserved rural entrepreneurs to start and scale their businesses.

RBIL aims to expand our focus on rural innovation businesses in agriculture, Ag tech, sustainability, construction, waste management, water reclamation, workforce development, diversity, equity, and inclusion. Our current industry focuses on accelerating and building resilience within the natural resource and new climate economy value-chain.

RBIL has four main objectives:

Develop a learning network among innovative rural Minnesota and Wisconsin entrepreneurs
Provide 1-on-1 consulting to cohort members, equipping them with free professional resources to help them scale
(such as business planning, grant writing, marketing, and access to capital)
Create an innovative finance pipeline for rural entrepreneurs
Utilize robust storytelling methods to highlight these entrepreneurs and empower their communities, generating positive media within the Upper Midwest and beyond

RBIL supports entrepreneurs from all backgrounds, addressing unique challenges faced by BIPOC, women, veterans, and LGBTQ+ individuals in rural Minnesota and Wisconsin. The aim is to provide equal access and promote culturally relevant business practices.

Interested in learning more about RBIL?

Check out our video and follow us on Instagram!

Cohort Three 2025

CEDA’s Rural Business Innovation Lab is proud to announce the selection of its second cohort, consisting of 13 companies.

This diverse group of businesses and organizations has been carefully chosen based on their alignment with the program’s criteria and their demonstrated interest in scaling and innovation. The selected participants are set to embark on an eight-month journey to accelerate their growth and drive positive change in rural areas.

The 2025 Rural Business Innovation Lab cohort consists of the following entities:

Impacks

Waite Park, MN

Impacks is a tech-powered business that simplifies back-to-school shopping for parents, teachers, and school administrators. They’re based out of St. Cloud, Minnesota, and they serve schools across the country. They’re rooted in a social-impact methodology, and they focus on making school supplies more accessible for families.

Ty’s Ginseng

Morristown, MN

At Ty’s Ginseng, we’re proud to be a small, family-owned business, where every customer has the opportunity to interact directly with the owner. My family and I grow ginseng in southern Minnesota and our Minnesota weather creates the perfect conditions for ginseng to grow in our woods. We take great pride in our roots to make sure that you get only the best quality woods grown ginseng.

Oh, Beehave! Goods

Hudson, WI

Minnesota-based Oh, Beehave! Goods was founded in 2020 by Tavia Trulson, an environmental educator and herbalist with a passion for regenerative agriculture. Her body care line features beeswax-based balms, deodorants, and lip care made with organic, sustainably sourced ingredients from local partners.

More than a trend, Oh, Beehave! represents a return to what’s real: natural, potent skincare that nourishes the body and the planet. Every balm is a step toward climate resilience, pollinator preservation, and conscious connection to the earth.

Carlson Roasting Company

Houston, MN

Carlson Roasting Company is passionate about quality hand crafted coffee. They buy Fair Trade and Organic coffees from around the world and roast them in small batches with attention to detail that brings out the potential of each batch. Coffee is a crop and changes in quality over time, so what they offer will change over time as quality from each origin and farm changes with each harvest.

Prairie PROducers, LLC

Olivia, MN

Prairie PROducers is an industrial hemp fiber producer/processor located in Olivia, MN. Olivia, the Renville County seat, is known for its farm yields and innovations in agriculture. Licensed with the State of Minnesota, Prairie PROducers offers opportunities for growers looking to diversify their crop in the face of a changing, global market and solutions for manufacturers seeking to reduce their reliance on petroleum-based plastics.

American Hazelnut Company

Gays Mills, WI

American Hazelnut Company is a grower-owned business dedicated to building a sustainable Midwest hazelnut industry. Rooted in a vision of restoring native ecosystems and promoting climate-friendly agriculture, the company sources hazelnuts from small farms across the Upper Midwest, transforming them into high-quality products like hazelnut oil, roasted nuts, flour, and snacks.

Clear View Regenerative Farms & Services

Altura, MN

Clear View offers agricultural support and laboratory services that support the regeneration of healthy ecosystems throughout the upper midwest. CVRFS is an active participant and practitioner in the nascent field of soil ecology and the Soil Food Web Community. They can also provide support services in transition to organics and any associated documentation.

Salt of the North

Northfield, MN

Salt of the North is a natural dye line grown at Get Bentz Farm in Northfield, Minnesota, by Maddy Bartsch, a farmer, art educator, and advocate for local textile economies. Rooted in the belief that sustainable agriculture and textiles are deeply connected, Maddy cultivates dye plants while fostering community through education and hands-on workshops. Their work supports a decentralized, environmentally responsible textile system in the Midwest, bringing people together through the art and science of natural dyes.

Tortilleria Zepeda

Lone Rock, WI

After recognizing a serious lack of authentic Mexican corn tortillas,
Julian and Heidi Zepeda decided to open their own tortilleria in Lone Rock, WI. Using techniques taught to Julian by his family as well as Mexico’s leading tortilleros, the Zepeda’s have perfected the pre-Hispanic nixtamalization process to create the most authentic Mexican corn tortilla. They use only locally sourced Wisconsin organic corn and personally know each farmer, which makes an impact on our local food system.

Tiger Trail Lefse Chip Co.

Peterson, MN

Tiger Trail is a family run business located in Peterson, MN right off the Root River Bike Trail. Their passion is to produce flavorful lefse chips for all to enjoy!

Small Town Vibes

Hutchinson, MN

Talent Tourism flips the traditional script to give your community home field advantage. We identify prospective talent and bring them to your turf where you can make the most effective pitch possible. Pictures and posts are great, but people seal the deal.

Sweet Haven Tonics

New Ulm, MN

Sweet Haven Tonics creates elegant cocktail concentrates and mixing kits with sustainable, natural ingredients. They offer a dazzling array of cocktail concentrates, along with video tutorials and recipes that can help you be just as good as your bartender. They also have a beautiful cocktail lounge on site with a wide variety of events each year.

Woollets

Argyle, WI

Woollets was founded by women who had a vision of a healthier planet. Seeking a way to help the sheep industry with the vast amounts of unused wool as well as trying to find a sustainable alternative to peat, they divert a waste product from landfills, repurposing it to renew soil without microplastics. Based in Argyle, Wisconsin, Woollets™ sources raw wool from local sheep farms, paying a fair price, then heat pelletizes the wool to create Woollets™ wool pellets for the home and garden.

The cohort’s formation was a natural outcome, with applicants chosen based on their alignment with program goals and their potential for growth and innovation.

CEDA’s Rural Business Innovation Lab is committed to supporting rural entrepreneurs and fostering economic growth. With a focus on sustainability, climate change mitigation, and operational scalability, the program sets the stage for the participating businesses and nonprofits to thrive and make a lasting impact in their communities.

View Previous Years

Cohort Two 2024

The 2024 Rural Business Innovation Lab cohort consists of the following entities:

Baptism River Barbeque

Silver Bay, MN

Baptism River Barbeque produces smoked meats and sides featuring locally sourced produce, animals, and hardwoods grown along Lake Superior’s north shore. They are creating a true northwoods barbecue that you can’t get anywhere else.

Bayl

Northfield, MN

Rooted in the Midwestern plains, Bayl creates heirloom-quality woolen goods. Born from collaborations, and a connection to the more-than-human world- it is an expression of the human tradition of shepherding and is now reimagining the future of ethical apparel.

Fiddlehead Knob

Le Roy, MN

Fiddlehead Knob is a fourth-generation family farm committed to local food & sustainability. As a fully solar-powered farm they specialize in cultivating & foraging a wide a wide variety of mushrooms year-round, which they sell at area farmer’s markets, restaurants, and food hubs.

Rustic Roots

Alexandria, MN

Rustic Roots Farm is a small family farm whose mission is to balance sustainable natural resources with a blend of innovative techniques and traditional methods to produce the highest quality products for their customers. The farm was started to spread the values of independence, hard work, self-reliance, perseverance, and creative thinking.

Cannon Valley Graziers

Northfield, MN

With backgrounds in agriculture, land management, and conservation ecology, they set out on a mission to have a positive impact on the ecology, soil health and water quality of Southern Minnesota. Cannon Valley Graziers specializes in adaptive grazing & targeted vegetation management.

Embark Maple

Viroqua, WI

Embark starts with organic Maple Syrup, harvested from a farm in the Driftless region of Wisconsin. All of our products are made from real, simple foods, certified organic and of the highest quality. Organic Maple Syrup from our farm and a pinch of Sea Salt provides the energy, electrolytes and nutrition found in commercial energy gels, with easily digested, outstanding flavor.

Simple Cider Co.

Annandale, MN

Simple Cider Co. is a hand-crafted family experience where parents unwind, and kids thrive! Serving both hard cider and NA juice, Simple Cider Co. has set out to build an adult- and kid-friendly space, redefining what “open to all ages” truly means.

Get Bentz Farm

Northfield, MN

This farm raises Icelandic and Icelandic cross sheep on a beautiful section of land that overlooks the Cannon River Valley. Here you can find a variety of products from their sheep including yarn, meat, and sheepskins. They also have a woolen mill which is home to Badgerface Fiber. They source local fibers, paying a fair wage for their raw materials, and turn them into beautiful roving, yarn, and rug yarn.

Driftless Seeds

Ferryville, WI

Grown In And For The Midwest. At Driftless Seed Supply, they dig deep to offer high-quality seeds and supplies with integrity and transparency for Midwest growers. They provide locally produced, regionally adapted vegetable, flower and native prairie seeds, with a priority to offer certified organic seed when possible.

Lavender Barnyard

Farmington, MN

The lavender barnyard is a family farm that not only grows and sells native Minnesota lavender but provides a space for inspiration, tranquility, and well-being. Whether you want to buy some relaxing lavender lotion or go and pick your own fresh lavender, there’s a way for anyone to feel relaxed on this farm.

Lakota Made

Mankato, MN

This company makes indigenous first herbal remedies and eco-friendly personal care products. Megan L. Schnitker is an Indigenous Traditional Herbalist, she has no formal education in this other than her own research and learning from her elders. All products are locally sustainably harvested made with filtered beeswax, organic sunflower oil or organic olive oil.

The cohort’s formation was a natural outcome, with applicants chosen based on their alignment with program goals and their potential for growth and innovation.

Cohort One 2023

The first Rural Business Innovation Lab cohort consists of the following entities:

Stablefeed

A premium equine food and supplement company. Their horse feed is an innovative use of organic and minimally processed superfoods. StableFeed’s goal is to provide today’s horse owner with a clean and wholesome feed option so that their horses can return to a more natural and raw diet.

Perennial Pantry

A startup working to develop and market kernza grain products. Kernza is a regenerative crop (a cousin of wheat), which means that it lives for multiple years which in turn creates healthier soil. With more protein than any other grain and a high fiber food, kernza is taking over every aspect of the kitchen.

The Meatery

An online marketplace for meat producers and consumers. The Meatery’s goal is to educate consumers with access to small meat producers, supply options to a variety of products, and provide unique ways to cook up a great meal for the whole table.

Southeast Minnesota Food Rescue and Redistribution

A nonprofit that works with startup farmers from culturally diverse backgrounds, emphasizing indigenous products and practices. By connecting farmers who have an abundance of crops and homes that face food insecurity, this organization is both decreasing food waste and reducing food deserts.

3Cricketeers

A cricket farm that grows and harvests crickets for use in specialized food products. This is a product that not only fuels humans but also fuels the earth. With less water, land, and almost no emission of greenhouse gasses, 3Cricketeers’ products also provide more health benefits than a typical protein source. It’s the superfood that’s saving the planet and our health!

Clear Water Nitrate Reduction

An environmental engineering and services company specializing in innovative conservation practices. Through research and development the company has been able to design technology that can decrease the amount of nitrogen in run-off water from farm lands.

Makotah Veterinary Center

A rural veterinary center that provides services for a mixed variety of animals, running from dogs and cats to horses and cows. This practice is not only trying to serve their community with this necessary service, but also making legislative changes in the veterinary world to make it more accessible for small farmers in rural areas.

Depot Studios

A nonprofit specializing in processing milkweed pods for garment insulation products. While the plant grows like a weed and is also a perennial, its use has an unbelievable potential. Depot Studios isn’t only focused on the environmental impact, but also has the mission to provide full time jobs to their community where a lot of the work can be very seasonal.

The cohort’s formation was a natural outcome, with applicants chosen based on their alignment with program goals and their potential for growth and innovation.

Consulting team

Cameron Payne
Manager of Entrepreneurial Programs 304-941-6006
cameron.payne@cedausa.com

Joshua Schuetz
Entrepreneurial Programs Specialist
507-841-2139
joshua.schuetz@cedausa.com

The Rural Business Innovation Lab is supported by the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development and Compeer Financial.